Excerpt: Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he’s a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband’s life a misery, and she’ll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself…as none other than West Ravenel.

West is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. However, from the moment he meets Phoebe, West is consumed by irresistible desire…not to mention the bitter awareness that a woman like her is far out of his reach. What West doesn’t bargain on is that Phoebe is no straitlaced aristocratic lady. She’s the daughter of a strong-willed wallflower who long ago eloped with Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent—the most devilishly wicked rake in England.

Before long, Phoebe sets out to seduce the man who has awakened her fiery nature and shown her unimaginable pleasure. Will their overwhelming passion be enough to overcome the obstacles of the past?

Only the devil’s daughter knows…

 

 

 

About the Book

Devil’s Daughter
by Lisa Kleypas

Series
The Ravenels meet The Wallflowers

Genre
Adult
Historical Romance

Publisher
Avon Books

Publication Date
February 19, 2019

Purchase Your Copy Today!
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Excerpt

“If you have any misguided thoughts about taking me into your bed, you would find it a vastly mediocre experience. I’d be on you like a crazed rabbit, and half a minute later the whole thing would be over. I used to be a proficient lover, but now I’m a burnt-out libertine whose only remaining pleasure is breakfast food. Speaking of which—”

Phoebe reached for him, brought herself up hard against him, and interrupted him with her mouth. West flinched as if scalded and held very still in the manner of a man trying to withstand torture. Undeterred, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as passionately as she could, touching her tongue to his stiff lips. The feel and taste of him was exhilarating. Suddenly he responded with a primitive grunt and his mouth clamped on hers, wringing sensation from her with demanding pressure. Forcing her lips apart, he searched her with his tongue the way she remembered, and it felt so good, she thought she might faint. A whimper rose from her throat, and he licked and bit gently at the sound and sealed their mouths together in a deep, insatiable kiss that involved his lips, breath, hands, body, soul.

Whatever it might be like to go to bed with this man . . . it would be anything but mediocre.

 

 

About Lisa Kleypas

New York Times bestselling author LISA KLEYPAS graduated from Wellesley College with a political science degree. She is a RITA® Award-winning author of both historical romance and contemporary women’s fiction. Her novels are published in twenty-eight different languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband Gregory and their two children.

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This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.

 

 

 

 

 

Review: The Risk by Elle Kennedy

The Risk is the second book in Elle Kennedy’s Briar U series. This book features Brenna Jensen and hockey hot-shot Jake Connelly who happens to play for Briar’s rival, Harvard. He is enemy #1. Unfortunately, Brenna is also very attracted to him. She would never act on it but when Jake gets one of his hockey players to end his relationship with Brenna, well, she is livid. No one controls her sex life. Game on!

Jake is definitely attracted to Brenna. But he is also committed to hockey and nothing is going to break his stride when it comes to winning it all this year. Next year, he’ll be playing for the Edmonton Oilers so he really wants to end his Harvard career on top. And if that means no distractions for his teammates, that means the same to him too. That is, until Brenna comes to him needing a small favor. She claimed Jake is her boyfriend to help grease the wheels for an internship she is anxious to get. It won’t guarantee her the job by any means but it will definitely impress the man interviewing her. Only, Jake has requirements of his own. He wants a real date with Brenna, the woman he cannot get out of his head.

Thus, these two begin risky, covert assignations with each other. Brenna’s father is the coach of Briar U’s hockey team so there is no way on earth he would be happy to discover she is seeing Jake. And well, her friends, many of them hockey players, would feel the same. Will these two get their heads on straight before they hurt their friends?

The Risk is just pure romantic deliciousness. Jake and Brenna truly scorch the pages in all their encounters. It does not have to be sexy times to feel the heat between Jake and Brenna. There is just this special punch of emotion between them that was noticeable in the first book in the Briar U series (The Chase) but now it has exploded tenfold. There is heat, there is caring, and there is fun flirtation between these two.

I also enjoyed the character development in other ways. Brenna in particular has a rough relationship with her father due to something in her past. Neither has ever been able to really talk about it so when Brenna is forced to move into her dad’s house after her apartment floods, well, things are a bit strained between them. I was pleased to see these two find ways to open up to each other.

Brenna is saucy and funny and sarcastic. She is a great companion and foil to Jake who has many of these same qualities. When they are together, there is softening of their edges as they realizes they have met someone likeminded.

Elle Kennedy always does a great job of creating a satisfying and spectacular romance but I must say, Brenna and Jake really do surpass many of my previous favorite Kennedy couples in leaps and bounds. Their relationship is just molten hot.

The Risk is available today! It is another great romance from the Elle Kennedy canon!

Release Blitz: Huge Deal by Lauren Layne

HUGE DEAL
21 Wall Street (Book 3)
Lauren Layne
February 12, 2019
Montlake Romance

Blurb:
Even for a top-gun banker, temptation this hot is quite a gamble, in a sexy Wall Street romp from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne.

An alpha among the wolves of Wall Street, Kennedy Dawson rose to the top of the pack by striking the right contracts at the right times. But there’s one deal that’s been giving him a run for his money—a pact to never again let his assistant, Kate, get under his skin. She may be smart, gorgeous, and sharp as a whip, but she’s definitely off-limits.

Kate Henley isn’t a banker, but she knows a thing or two about risk management—specifically, about managing her attraction to her smolderingly sexy boss. She already fell once, and Kennedy showed no sign of paying a return on her investment. So when Kennedy’s brother starts pursuing her, Kate figures she has the best of both worlds. Jack is charming, rich, very attentive, and the spitting image of his older brother.

It’s also making Kennedy think twice. But to win Kate’s heart, he’ll have to broker the deal of a lifetime…and prove he’s worth the risk.

Amazon

Read my review of the first book in this series, Hot Asset!

Lauren Layne is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than two dozen romantic comedies. Her books have sold over a million copies, in nine languages. Lauren’s work has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside Edition. She’s based in New York City.

Review: Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

When I saw Devil’s Daughter pop up on Edelweiss for review, I clicked request immediately. I honestly did not think I would be approved though. Fortunately I was and well, I started reading immediately. I was not a fan of the Ravenels book four, Hello, Stranger. It was just an okay read for me. But the excerpt for Devil’s Daughter had me excited immediately and for the most part, this book lived up to my hopes and expectations.

This is the story of widowed Phoebe, Lady Clare. She is raising two young sons after taking care of her deceased husband during a lingering illness. Phoebe is not looking to fall in love again as she already has a pact in place with her husband’s cousin. Kleypas has used this type of storyline in previous books (my favorite being Where Dreams Begin) so I already knew of sorts what the outcome of this would be. She would definitely be marrying West Ravenel. (As if any romance reader expects anything else!) Phoebe is attending her brother’s wedding where she runs into West Ravenel. Phoebe has never officially met West but she already knows his reputation via her husband. West is a bully. He is unkind and cruel.

Or at least, that is what she thought. As Phoebe spends time at the Ravenels’ home before the wedding, she soon realizes West is much more than she thought. He is kind to her sons. He is very good to the tenants on the land and pitches in all the time. He has improved land management and made things better for the people living on the family land. In short, he has grown up and changed, as many people do. Phoebe loses her preconceived notions of West quickly enough and becomes attracted to him. But West will not let anything happen between them, though he does offer Phoebe his help on her estate that she is managing for her young son, Justin.

And of course, once West arrives at the estate, things escalate quickly between them. Theirs is an attraction that really pops off the page. I liked both Phoebe and West and in particular, liked them together. I also found the the insertion of farming techniques and information to be really interesting. It is clear Kleypas did her research. West is knowledgeable without being a know it all. He shares his knowledge readily and is doing his best to help Phoebe. Unfortunately, West has one trait that drove me bonkers.

He consistently underestimates himself over and over again. He tears himself down and finds himself unworthy of any love that Phoebe wants to share with him. It really drove me up the wall. He was making himself a martyr for no good reason. Everyone in his life tells him time and time again that he has changed for the better and that the past is behind him. Do you think he takes their advice? NO! West drags his feet up until the end of the book on his worthiness for Phoebe and that in some ways marred the romance for me. He clearly admires Phoebe. I wish he would have respected her feelings in regards to him and their future a bit more.

With all that being said, I really did enjoy Devil’s Daughter. I liked revisiting Phoebe’s family (the infamous Lord St. Vincent from The Devil in Winter and Evie). I liked getting to know Phoebe and seeing her care for her sons (who do not take up too much of the story for those who aren’t fans of kids in romance books). I enjoy the world of the Ravenels and look forward to whomever Cassandra falls in love with.

Devil’s Daughter felt like a bit of a return to classic historical romance Lisa Kleypas and for that alone, this book to me deserves high praise. I’ve already re-read if that gives you an idea of my enjoyment factor.

Devil’s Daughter is available on February 19, 2019.

ARC provided by Edelweiss and Avon.